


But this might take all night

by PeachSSodaPop



Series: But this might take all night [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, I'll tag more things as I go, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, M/M, Multi, Trans Keith (Voltron), Trans Male Character, Transphobia, im weak okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-03-27 07:38:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13876254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeachSSodaPop/pseuds/PeachSSodaPop
Summary: After Keith is kicked out by his transphobic aunt and uncle he moves in with his half-brother Shiro in a small mountain town in Colorado, where he reconnects with old friends, meets new friends, and falls in love.





	1. What did I do?

A light snow fell illuminated by the soft copper glow of the street lights. It would have been a beautiful sight for Keith who grew up in Texas, however, right now he was standing out in it with just his motorcycle jacket for protection and after driving his motorcycle in it. To say he was freezing was an understatement, especially considering he was used to the heat of Texas. Beauty be damned he just wanted to get inside a building and feel warmth again. He yawned as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the address before he went up and knocked on the door and had a stranger asking him why he was at their door at 9 pm. The embarrassment would be so overwhelming he'd probably find the nearest tree and hit his head hard enough against it to at least knock himself out. He opened up the text conversation he had had with his half-brother 27 hours earlier.

6:38 pm

 **Keith:** Hey what's your address again?

 **Shiro:** 204 Arus Lane, Altea, Colorado **  
**

**Shiro:** Why?

At this point, he hadn't bothered to check his phone again eager to get on the road. There were several other messages Shiro had sent ranging from him worrying to him threatening Keith if he was sending another weird picture to him in the mail. He only glanced over those ones though instead deciding to focus on the address. He confirmed this to be the house. It was small, painted a light purple with darker purple accents around the window and on the door frame. The number on the side of the house read 204 the four a little crooked. He grabbed a bag from his motorcycle full of all the belongings he had been able to pack in his rush to get out of the house. He walked up to the house and knocked on the door. The snow had begun to pick up and he had to brush whatever snow had decided to stick to him. As he brushed off the last of the snow the door opened. He expected to see Shiro there and began to greet him.

"Hey, Sh-" Instead of seeing his brother there tall and muscular he saw someone else who was in no way his brother because they were short, thin and a girl.

"Keith?"

* * *

Apparently at some point, before Keith showed up Matt, Shiro's childhood friend and Matt's younger sister Katie who went Pidge, had decided to show up. So now he sat on one of Shiro's old armchairs while the trio sat across from him on the sofa staring at him expecting answers. He looked down at the floor and noticed a rug. He stared at it intently to avoid the stares. He may have known all of them since he was a kid but it didn't make this situation any less awkward. Finally, someone decided to break the silence.

"Hey, uh Keith not that I don't love you being back in town, but uh can you explain why you've come back unannounced?" It was Matt. Shiro nodded with him.

"Did something happen back in Texas?" Shiro asked giving him a worried look. Keith really just wanted to lie down on the rug and become one with the ugly floral pattern. All eyes were on him waiting for his response. He took a deep breath in and then began to talk.

"I came out to my aunt and uncle as trans. They told me that god doesn't make mistakes like that. They asked me if I needed to go see a doctor. I told them that no this is just who I am and that nothing will change that. Then I heard my uncle whisper to my aunt that I must just be doing it to be cool and for attention. That it's a phase and it'll be over soon. Then I lost it and punched him in the nose and they kicked me out. Gave me 20 minutes to pack up everything I could and get out." He really wished he could be an ugly floral rug instead of a human at that moment. Ugly floral rugs don't lose their temper and punch the person who was letting them live under their roof. Ugly floral rugs don't randomly show up at their half-brother's house homeless and broke just hoping he'll be able to take them in. Suddenly he felt arms wrapped around him. He looked up to see Pidge hugging him.

"Those damn bastards. At least now you can be yourself without having to worry about them," she said. Matt and Shiro got off the sofa and came and joined the hug. Keith let himself enjoy the embrace for a moment then pulled away.

"Is it okay if I stay here?" Keith asked. He really didn't want to be a burden to his brother but he was broke as fuck. The only other option was living on the streets.

"Of course Keith, I could never turn you away," Shiro said, " I have a spare room you can stay in, but it doesn't have any furniture so you'll have to wait until I can save up the money. Until then there's the couch,"

"No don't do that Shiro. I'll save up my own money and buy it myself," Keith replied.

"Keith, you've been in town for what? Five minutes? You don't even have a job yet," Shiro said.

"I can find one!"

" Keith it could take you a long time to find a job, and then you'd still have to save up the money," Shiro said.

Pidge spoke up, "I could get Keith a job by tomorrow night,"

"I'll get that job and I'll save up my own money. I don't want to be a burden, Shiro," Keith said.

Shiro sighed, "Okay,"

Keith turned to Pidge,"So what type of job is it?"

"A position just opened up at my friend's coffee shop," Pidge replied.

"I don't know a thing about coffee Pidge," Keith said.

"Don't worry, they've had some pretty clueless people work there I'm sure you'll be fine," Pidge said.

Matt stood up from the sofa, "Alright we should get going Pidge,"

Pidge nodded and stood up. The two left leaving Keith and Shiro.

Shiro grabbed some blankets from a closet and laid them on the sofa. "If it's too uncomfortable just tell me and you can have the bed,"

Keith nodded too tired to bring up that he would never make his brother sleep on an uncomfortable couch. He took off his motorcycle jacket and laid down on the couch.

"Night Keith,"

"Night Shiro,"

Shiro left the room and disappeared into his own leaving Keith on the couch. He stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling for a few minutes before he closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets a job and then there's a party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean to take this long to update it kind of just happened but now I'm on summer break so hopefully chapter 3 will be posted much sooner

Keith hopped off his bike and watched as Pidge tried to reach her feet to the ground and almost fell off the bike. Keith struggle to hide his snickers as Pidge regained her balance and glared at him. They walked up to the small building they had parked in front of. A sign was on the front of the building, in fancy writing were the words Balmera Coffee. Two large windows were on the front wall, several papers were posted on them for upcoming local events. Pidge opened the door and a little bell rang to alert the workers. In the shop there was a counter where a woman stood and a glass case where many pastries sat, and a small seating area with several small tables and a few armchairs around a coffee table. The woman looked over at the two and her brown eyes lit up. 

“Pidge, welcome! Is this that Keith guy you’ve been talking about?” She said revealing she had a british accent, she had dark brown skin and white hair she had pulled back in a bun, some of her roots fading back to her original dark hair color. 

“Yeah,” Pidge said, “he’s finally moved back.”

The woman smiled at Keith and held out her hand, “Hello Keith, I’m Allura. I’ve heard a lot about you from Pidge.”

Keith shook Allura's hand and laughed a bit awkwardly, “ I wish I could say the same, I haven’t had the chance to talk to her in awhile.” 

“Well it’s great you’re back, you have no idea how much Pidge missed you, though she’d never admit it,” Allura said, “Anyway I heard you’re in need of a job, lucky for you we just started hiring. I’ll just need you to apply.” She handed Keith the papers and a pen.

Keith went and sat at one of the small tables while Pidge and Allura chatted at the counter.

“I’m sure you’re super excited to have your best friend back in town,” Allura said.

“Yeah, it’s great, we haven’t spoke once since he stopped visiting two years ago.” Pidge said.

 

“At all? Did you guys have some sort of fight?” Allura asked.

“No. It was out of either of our control. I don’t know too much outside of the information I got out of the first time I tried to contact him. His aunt and uncle didn’t want him to talk to any of us for some reason, they didn’t explain why.” Pidge said.

“Oof that sucks.”

“Yeah, but he’s back now and that’s all that matters,”  
Keith got the job and started the following Monday. He showed up in one of Shiro’s old black button down shirts and black dress pants, just as Allura had told him after he filled out the application. Allura smiled as he walked in, she walked over to him and handed him a dark green apron. He took it from her and looked at it. In fancy writing across the top were the words Balmera Coffee. 

“Alright, put this on and then I’ll start to show you the ropes.” Allura said. Keith nodded and noticed that Allura has her apron tied around her waist, he looked back at the apron. 

“Should I uhh wear it like you have it or as a normal apron.” Keith asked. Allura looked back at him.

“Oh just wear it like you would any other apron.” She said. Keith nodded again and put on the apron. 

A few customers came in early and Allura showed him how to make the coffees. Then the morning rush hit and Allura had him working the register to avoid angry customers. It was a bit overwhelming and the rude customers and the couple that misgendered him didn’t help. However eventually things slowed down and he went back to learning how to make the various drinks available. The door opened and the soft ringing of the bell was quickly overpowered by someone’s voice.

“Hey ‘Llura!” Keith turned to see a tall man with light brown skin and short straight brown hair. He wore a brown hoodie zipped up to block out the cold weather. “Ooo who’s the new kid?” he asked as he walked over to the counter where Allura was standing.

“I’m Keith,” He said and went back to working on the customer who had come in before him’s drink.

“He’s Shiro’s little brother,” Allura added.

“So he’s finally decided to show up,” the man said.

Keith finished the drink and gave it to the customer who smiled and thanked him before leaving with their drink. “So uhh, what’s your name?” Keith asks standing at the counter near the man.

“Name’s Lance. I’ve heard a lot about you. Also your brother is kind of a loser.”

“ I know, I’m kind of amazed he’s friends with anyone other than Matt and Pidge,” Keith said.

“ Honestly the only reason for that is because Pidge introduced him to us. He can’t seem to make a single friend his age.” Lance said.

Keith chuckled and then remembered he was supposed to be working. “So Lance what drink would you like?”

Lance looked up at the menu for a few seconds before saying, “I’ll get a medium vanilla latte, and…” He looked down at the pastries in the glass counter, “ a cinnamon roll.”

Keith pulled out the cinnamon roll and Allura got to work on Lance’s drink. Keith handed Lance his cinnamon roll and Lance immediately took a bite. With his mouth full of food he tried to say something but it came out as total gibberish.

“What?”

“ Hunk’s baking is to die for. If I really wanted I could get this stuff from him for free, but that won’t help him. Anyway whatcha doing up in Colorado, last I heard you live down in Texas and there weren’t any plans for you moving up here.”

Keith froze up unsure what to say, “Uhh, yeah, family issues came up and I had to move up here suddenly. Though I’m kinda glad it happened, it’s nice to be back here and be able to see Shiro again.” 

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Shiro talks about you from time to time but since I’ve known him you haven’t come to visit,” Lance said.

“Yeah things just never worked out for me to come visit.” Keith said. Then Allura showed up and handed Lance his drink. 

“ Well it was great talking to you, I gotta get to my classes,” Lance smiled and then walked out.

The rest of the day was relatively calm as customers continued to come in and Keith kept learning how to make drinks. Allura took his apron from him at the end of his shift since they only have a few.

When Keith arrived home no one was home yet. He’s pretty used to a quiet home since his aunt and uncle often worked much later than they should have. He lied down on the couch and turned on some random show on Shiro’s tv. 

He was nearly asleep when there was a knock on the front door. He rubbed his eyes and stood up to go see who was at the door. When he opened the door he was surprised. Lance and Pidge stood right in front of his door, Lance holding a cake from the supermarket and Pidge holding a shopping bag and a balloon she had yet to blow up. Behind them stood Allura and two other individuals. To her right was a large woman with short dark curly hair and skin just a shade lighter than Allura. To Allura’s left was a large man with shaggy brown hair pulled up with an orange sash and brown skin lighter than both Allura and the other woman’s. Allura held two two liters of pop and the man held a bag, the other woman held a small box.

“ Uhhh hi. I didn’t know I was going to be having company over today.” Keith said.

“We didn’t know we were coming over until Lance texted us this morning. He decided we needed to get together to celebrate you coming back to Altea.” Pidge said.

“Of course, how could we not have a party celebrating the return of Shiro’s little brother and Pidge’s childhood friend.” Lance said.

“Parties aren’t everyone’s cup of tea,” Pidge said with a shrug.

Lance stared at Pidge then looked at Keith, “ Well Keith, are you okay with us having a party for you?”

Keith thought about it for a second. He’s not really a huge fan of parties but he hasn’t gone to a party of any type in years, “Sure why not,”

Lance cheered and Keith let everyone in. Allura walked up to Keith with the two individuals he hadn’t recognized. 

“Keith this is Shay and Hunk.” She said, “ We’re all dating.

“Nice to meet you,” Shay said a bright smile on her face.

“Nice to meet you, I’ve heard all sorts of things about you from Pidge,” Hunk said and stuck out his hand.

Keith took his hand shook it, “ I’ve heard you’re a very good baker from Lance,”

Hunk smiled, “Yeah I’ve been baking since I was a kid, it’s a nice way to relax, though much to Lance’s disappointment I’m an engineering major.”

After talking to Hunk a bit Keith wandered over to the kitchen where Pidge was blowing up various colored balloons while sitting on the counter, and Lance was setting out snack platters. Lance looked over to Keith.

“Hey what’s your favorite color?” He asked.

“Red,” Keith replied.

“Rad,” Lance murmured and wrote “Keith” on a red cup. There were various colored cups sitting around him, “ We like to try to get everyone a cup in their favorite color. It’s kind of impossible when we get everyone together though.”

Pidge let go of the final balloon and started to snack on crackers from one of the snack platters. Keith walked over and put some meat and cheese on a cracker. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a party,” Keith said and ate his cracker.

Lance looked at him in disbelief, “ Not even a birthday party?!?” 

Keith shook his head and swallowed. “ I didn’t really know anyone down in Texas, and my aunt and uncle didn’t care for birthday parties,”

“I can’t imagine that, between my large family and all my friends I’m usually going to at least one birthday party a month, and then there are parties for other occasions,” Lance said.

“Well now I’m sure I’ll be attending enough parties to make up for that,” Keith said.

Allura called out for Lance. He looked at Keith and said, “ Definitely,” before going to see what Allura needed.

“It’s really nice having you back,” Pidge said, “ I missed you a lot since your aunt and uncle stopped letting you visit. They were also douchebags so it’s nice to know you’re away from them and not having to deal with their bullshit anymore,”

“It’s nice being back, I’ve missed you a lot too,” Keith ruffled her hair, “ We probably have a lot to catch up on,”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party continues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops I accidentally took two months to write again I'm sorry. Though I can insert Shiro/Adam without worry

Keith and Pidge continued to talk, Pidge at some point had jumped up on to the counter and was now sitting on it continuing to snack on things while she listened to Keith.

    “So how did you meet the others?” Keith decided to ask have been talking about himself for a bit.

    Pidge swallowed what was in her mouth then replied, “I met Allura and Shay because I went to the coffee shop so often and I’d catch them on their shifts a lot. They later introduced me to Lance and Hunk,”

    “How much coffee were you drinking because knowing you it had to be a lot,”

    Pidge smiled guiltily, “Enough that within a few weeks of going there Allura and Shay would cut me off some days. They’d say things like “Pidge if you drink any more coffee you will be drinking over the daily suggested amount that’s not good for you”. So I’d get something else and then go and just make coffee at home,”

    “Pidge that’s awful for your body,” Keith said.

    “Hey don’t act like you haven’t done things like that, I remember how many energy drinks you would drink when you stayed here,” Pidge said “and I bet you still drink more caffeine than you probably should,”

    Keith sighed, “You got me there,” Pidge giggled 

    Shiro walked into the kitchen mildly confused and still dressed in his work clothes, “Didn’t know we were having company over today,” he said.

    “Yeah I didn’t either until I opened the door to find everyone waiting outside holding party supplies,” Keith replied.

    “Lance said this is to celebrate you coming back and it was unacceptable no one else had decided to throw a party yet,” Shiro said “Anyway I have to get dressed into something different,” then he walked out of the kitchen.

    It remained quiet for a few moments then Pidge decided to break the silence, “Want to go see what the others are up to?”

    Keith thought for a second, “Sure why not,” Pidge jumped off the counter and the two walked into the living room. What they found they certainly weren’t expecting. Lance was lying on the floor surrounded by balloons. Hunk and Allura were standing above him holding balloons, and Shay sitting to the side surrounded by packages of balloons blowing another one up.

    “Whatcha guys up to?” Pidge asked.

    “We’re trying to bury Lance in balloons,” Allura replied, then kneeled down and began to arrange the balloons in her hand so that they covered up Lance.

    Keith stared at the large number of balloons Shay was surrounded by waiting to be blown up. “How many balloons did you guys buy?”

    Shay stopped blowing up her balloon for a second and replied, “Too many for one person to blow up. You two should come help me,”

    Pidge nodded and went over and grabbed a balloon, Keith stood still for a moment then gave in and went over and grabbed a balloon too.

    About three balloons later Shiro walked back into the living room dressed more casually before and his prosthetic missing.

    “Hey guys I-” Shiro started then took in the scene, “What are you guys doing?”

    “Burying Lance in balloons,” Allura replied casually.

    “Alright, anyway I invited Adam over, hope you guys are okay with that,” Shiro said.

    “It’s your house you can invite whoever the hell you want over,” Pidge said as she tied up her most recent balloon.

    “Wait, Adam is back in town? I thought he was out of state for college,” Keith said.

    “He moved back last year,” Shiro said.

    “I’m glad you guys are still friends, Adam was pretty cool,” Keith said. The room was quickly filled with giggles and he swore he said someone say “yeah friends” sarcastically. He looked at Shiro looking for an explanation.

    Shiro looked at Keith and saw the confused questioning look on his face and did his best to stop laughing, “We’re actually dating now,”

    “You’re dating Adam!” Keith exclaimed, “Shiro I didn’t even know you liked guys!”

    “I meant to tell you but getting into contact with you was hard. Last year Adam moved back and I realized I was gay, and then probably a week later Adam confessed and we’ve been dating since,” Shiro explained.

    “Momma didn’t have a single straight child,” Keith whispered and the whole room began to laugh.

    After a few minutes the laughter finally died down and they began to work on covering Lance again, having to start from scratch since he had knocked all of the balloons off of himself while laughing.

    When Adam arrived he found everyone helping cover up Lance. He was nearly covered leaving just his face. He lifted his hand and covered his hand while he laughed at the sight.

    Shiro looked up and a soft smile spread across his face, he stood up and went over to hug the other man. He gave him a quick peck on the lips. He grabbed his hand and then turned and gestured towards Keith. “You remember Keith right?”

    “How could I ever forget Keith with how much you talk about him.” Adam said smiling at Shiro, then he turned his head and looked at Keith, “How have you been kiddo?”

    “I’ve been good, got a job and started today. I also found out my brother is gay and has a boyfriend today too,” Keith said.

    “Took him this long huh. I also found out my boyfriend had his brother move up here and into his house today,” Adam said. “So what made you finally decide to move back up here, finally get tired of your family down there?”

    “If it was just me being tired of them I’d of moved back here ages ago. I actually got kicked out,” Keith said.

    “That doesn’t sound fun. Glad you’re back though,” Adam said.

    Suddenly a cheer interrupted their conversation. They looked over to see a giant pile of balloons that completely buried Lance.

    “That’s an impressive amount of balloons,” Adam said.

    “I can’t believe you guys actually bought enough balloons to bury Lance and have extra,” Keith said marveling at the pile. The Lance popped up sending balloons flying all over the room. 

    “Aw Lance you ruined it,” Pidge said.

    “You didn't expect me to just hang out there forever did you?” Lance asked.

    “Of course not but we weren’t done appreciating out work,” Pidge said.

    “You can still appreciate your work with all these balloons cause holy shit are there a lot of them,” Lance said batting one across the room.

    The party continued on for a while longer before people started to leave. After a while, it was just Keith, Lance, Shiro, and Adam. Keith and Lance sat on the couch while Shiro and Adam hung out in the kitchen. They sat a decent distance apart before Lance scooted over. Lance’s thigh brushed against Keith’s and he just hoped he wasn’t blushing too much. He looked up at his eyes and noticed they were a beautiful blue like the ocean.

    “So what was your family like back in Texas,” Lance asked.

    “Not the worst but not the best either. What about your family?” Keith said deflecting the conversation back to Lance. 

    “ Oh they’re great, they’re so supportive of me. My older siblings can be little shits sometimes but that’s just what comes with siblings. Their kids are so cute too, I babysit them sometimes and it’s so fun,” Lance rambled.

    “That sounds really nice,” Keith said and smiled a little.

    Lance smiled back “Yeah it is,”

    This was when Shiro decided to walk back into the room, “Hey Keith did you- oh Lance I didn’t know you were still here,”

    “ Yeah, I should probably get going home though it’s getting late,” Lance said.

    “Alright see you later Lance,” Shiro said and waved then disappeared back into the kitchen.

    Lance smiled at Keith, “I gotta go, I’ll probably see you again soon since you work at Balmera now. I’m a regular there couldn’t imagine going through the day without a cup of coffee," 

    Keith smiled back, “Yeah see ya,” Lance put on his hoodie that had been discarded on the other side of the couch earlier and left.

    Shiro walked back into the room, “Keith did you take off your binder?”

    “Fuck no, thanks Shiro,” Keith said and went to go change in the bathroom. He wasn’t quite ready to come out to Shiro and Pidge’s friends. Adam had known him since before he started to transition so he had already dealt with that. He took off his binder and replaced it with an old sports bra.

When he came back Shiro and Adam were sitting on the couch he and Lance had been sitting on just a few minutes prior. The two were making out so he waited until they were done before letting his presence be known. 

    The three caught up for a while, filling each other in on the big details of their lives since Keith had been in Texas. Eventually, it was just Shiro and Adam talking and Keith was doing his best to not fall asleep right then and there. For a few minutes, he would start falling asleep and his head would droop and then would shoot up. Eventually, Shiro noticed and he stood up.

    “ We’ll go so you can go to sleep,” He said and Adam stood up with him. Keith nodded and yawned. Shiro handed him the blanket and he wrapped himself in it. Then Shiro and Adam left the room and headed to Shiro’s room. Keith laid down and was out within seconds.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I don't write a lot but I'm hoping to improve over the course of this story. I've had this idea for weeks and I just couldn't not write it down. I'll probably try to update this at least once a week. Go yell at me at my tumblr Redlionslippers if I go too long without updating.


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